ParentLink: Better and Safer Emergency Care for Children

The emergency department (ED) constitutes a high-risk environment for errors and poor quality of care. Pediatric patients are at increased risk of medical errors. We postulate that implementation of a patient-centered health information technology - ParentLink - can address system-level deficiencies and the unique "just-in-time" information needs of ED physicians and the parents of ill children. The proposed work delivers an innovative product - an electronic interface linked to a pediatric knowledge base that integrates parent-derived data with best practices for safe and effective emergency care across common pediatric disease conditions: otitis media, urinary tract infections, asthma, and head trauma. The study has two aims, the first of which addresses critical gaps in data capture: to evaluate the completeness and accuracy of information on symptoms, disease condition, medications and allergies generated by parents using ParentLink versus information documented by ED physicians and nurses, using structured telephone interviews as a gold standard. The second aim measures the ParentLink's impact on ED patient safety and quality, specifically: a) the error rate for ordering and prescribing of medications during ED care, and b) the percent of ED visits that adhere to national evidence-based guidelines. Parentlink will be rigorously evaluated in a clinical trial at two diverse ED sites and will use a sequential, non-randomized observational design with two intervention and two control periods to measure the effects of ParentLink on data capture and safety and quality of patient care.

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Key information

Conditions

Otitis Media Asthma Bronchial Diseases Craniocerebral Trauma Disease Attributes Ear Diseases Emergencies Female Urogenital Diseases Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications Head Injury Hypersensitivity Hypersensitivity, Immediate Immune System Diseases Infections Lung Diseases Lung Diseases, Obstructive Male Urogenital Diseases Nervous System Diseases Otitis Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases Pathologic Processes Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Respiratory Hypersensitivity Respiratory Tract Diseases Trauma, Nervous System Urinary Tract Infection Urinary Tract Infections Urogenital Diseases Urologic Diseases Wounds and Injuries

Age range

Up to 12 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Age less than 12 years with head trauma
Age less than 12 years with ear pain
Ages less than 12 years with concern for UTI
1 year - 12 years with asthma history and respiratory chief complaint
3 months - 2 years with fever
Parent speaks English or Spanish
Triage status is non-emergent

Treatment and study plan

patient-driven health IT product

Procedure

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Boston Children's Hospital

Other

Collaborators

South Shore Hospital

Registry information

Important dates

Study start: 2005
Study completion: 2006
First posted: Apr 6, 2007
Registry last updated: Apr 6, 2007

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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